Gibbons, P - Viking Blood and Blade by Peter Gibbons

Author:Peter Gibbons
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2021-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Hundr drank deeply. The Saxon ale was sweet and smooth, and he gulped it down, slaking his thirst and washing the dust from his throat. Once the fighting had stopped, the looting and rapine had begun in earnest, and hungry Northmen flooded the city of Yovrvik. Hundr, Sten and a few other members of the Seaworm crew had found a deserted Saxon tavern in the city and an empty table within. Other crews had also discovered the tavern, and drinking and singing songs of victory had started. Hundr was sitting with Sten, Thorvald, Brownlegs, Blink, and Bush.

“Thor’s balls, Hundr, you fought like a berserker today,” said Thorvald.

Hundr looked up from his mug of ale and nodded at his shipmate, uncertain that he had fought like a mushroom-drunk wild man but happy that he had fought well. He had blood crusted on his face and hands, making his skin feel stiff. Since the fighting had stopped, he had felt shaky and tired. But, of course, the assault hadn’t lasted long in real terms. Yet if time had slowed and allowed Hundr to see every moment replaying before his eyes, he’d see how he could have died a dozen times that day, how blades and missiles missed him by a hair’s breadth on the ladder, on the wall, and inside the fortress. He gulped down more ale and tucked his hands under the table, so the others couldn’t see them shake.

“Lucky to be alive, you daft bugger,” Sten said, wiping froth from his moustache.

“The whole army’s talking about you, aren’t they boys?” said Blink, leaning towards Hundr and blinking even more rapidly than usual.

He had met with the Seaworm lads once Einar had charged past him inside the fort. Most of the crew had survived the attack. The major casualties had come in the first assaults, and the Ragnarsson allies had carried them out, not the sworn Viking crews.

“Where did you learn to fight like that?” asked Thorvald.

Hundr shrugged. “In the East, where I was raised,”

“I’ve fought in the East, never saw a man fight on the same level as Ivar the Boneless, but you did today,” said Thorvald.

“Maybe he was breastfed until he had his first shave, and it made him stronger,” said Brownlegs, and they laughed.

Bush leaned over and messed up Hundr’s hair. It felt good to be with these men. They were his friends, and their recognition made him feel like one of them, like he was part of something. He thought back to his childhood and how he had longed for that feeling of acceptance.

The door to the tavern burst open and slammed back on its hinges. A group of Norsemen fell in, shouting and singing and dragging four captured Saxon women with them. Those women were shaking and weeping, stripped to the waist and beaten bloody. The Norsemen moved to the nearest table and kicked and shouted at the men occupying it to move. They did so with no argument.

“Those lads gave up their table a bit too easily,” said Bush, leaning back with one hand on his paunch.

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